Muddy Waters

The father of the modern Chicago blues, Muddy Waters (born McKinley Morganfield) electrified the traditional sounds of the Delta as he cleared a path for rock ’n’ roll.

∙ At age 17, he sold a horse to buy his first guitar and rapidly earned a reputation as the best player in his region of the Mississippi Delta.
∙ Ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax recorded Waters for the first time in 1941 and 1942—sessions later released as The Complete Plantation Recordings, which went on to win a Grammy Award.
∙ “Louisiana Blues,” released in 1950, was the first of his 13 Top 10 Blues singles, which include such classics as “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man” and “Mannish Boy.”
∙ His Newport Jazz Festival concert, released as At Newport 1960, exposed Chicago blues to a new audience and is ranked among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
∙ In 1964, The Rolling Stones, who had taken their name from a Waters track, went on a pilgrimage to Chess Records, his label, to meet their hero and record a few sides at Chess’ studio.
∙ Between 1972 and 1980, he won a record-setting six Grammy Awards for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording.
∙ In the ’80s, Waters was inducted into both the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and (posthumously) the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
∙ Rolling Stone ranked him No. 17 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.